What is the problem on the Bay bridge? Why was the Bay bridge shut down?

The Bay Bridge is a bridge that joins the city of San Francisco with the east coast of the San Francisco bay, California.

Due to the bridge’s significant height above open water and length of the bridge, many drivers have reported having panic attacks while driving across the bridge, including their vision tunneling and fearing a complete loss of control of their vehicles.

What is the problem with the Bay bridge?

Last week Caltrans revealed that 120 of the 400 galvanized steel rods that anchor the bridge’s tower to its foundation are in leaky sleeves flooded with saltwater.

This presents a key vulnerability in the event of a large earthquake. It was discovered that 32 of the 96 rods had fractured.

Engineers and metallurgists determined the bolts had cracked due to hydrogen embrittlement (HE), which occurs when excess hydrogen, a susceptible material, and tension are present.

Why was the Bay Bridge shut down?

Beginning at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, August 28th, the entire Bay Bridge will be CLOSED to traffic so that crews can complete construction of the eastern span.

The new span will open by 5 a.m. on Tuesday, September 3rd, 2022.